An aim of modem medicine is to provide personalized or individualized treatment regimens. Those are treatment regimens which take into account a patient's individual needs or risks. Of particular importance is the cardiovascular risk or complication, particularly an unrecognized cardiovascular risk or complication.
Selective cox-2 inhibitors are widely used potent anti-inflammatory drugs. Compared to many other anti-inflammatory drugs, they appear to cause less gastrointestinal side-effects, such as gastrointestinal bleeds or ulcers. Therefore, for many patients treatment with selective cox-2 inhibitors is the treatment of choice.
However, it has been noted recently, that selective cox-2 inhibitors can lead to cardiovascular complications, possibly followed by cardiac decompensation and even death. Rofecoxib (VIOXX™), a selective cox-2 inhibitor, was only recently removed from the market voluntarily by the manufacturing company, Merck, after a 3.9 times rise in the rate of serious thromboembolic incidents had led to premature discontinuation of the APPROVE study (Adenomatous Polyp Prevention On Vioxx). Only patients without any recognisable cardiovascular risk were included in that study for the secondary prevention of colon adenomas. Even in the early post-observation phase higher blood pressure levels had been noticed with 25 mg rofecoxib than with a placebo. 16 additional cardiovascular incidents per 1,000 treated patients (myocardial infarction, stroke) with 25 mg rofecoxib compared with a placebo (Topol E J. Failing the public health—rofecoxib, Merck, and the FDA. N Engl J Med 2004; 351: 1707-9) were noticed after 18 months of follow-up. An increased cardiovascular risk has also been suspected in other studies (VIGOR) and has been supported by data from a recent meta-analysis (Bombardier C, Laine L, Reicin A, Shapiro D, Burgos-Vargas R, Davis B, Day R, Ferraz M B, Hawkey C J, Hochberg M C, Kvien T K, Schnitzer T J; VIGOR Study Group. Comparison of upper gastrointestinal toxicity of rofecoxib and naproxen in patients with rheumatoid arthritis. VIGOR Study Group. N Engl J Med 2000; 343: 1520-8; Jüni P, Nartey L, Reichenbach S, Sterchi R, Dieppe P A, Egger M. Risk of cardiovascular events and rofecoxib: cumulative meta-analysis. Lancet 2004; online ahead).
Similar cardiovascular side-effects are suspected within the scope of a class effect for other selective cyclooxygenase-2 inhibitors such as celecoxib (Celebrex™, Pfizer), lumiracoxib (Prexige™, Novartis) and parecoxib, a pro-drug of valdecoxib, although at a lower incidence rate (Fitzgerald G A. Coxibs and cardiovascular disease. N Engl J Med 2004; 351: 1709-1711. Mukheijee D, Nissen S E, Topol E J. Risk of cardiovascular events associated with selective COX-2 Inhibitors. JAMA 2001; 286: 954-959.).
Cardiovascular complications, such as acute myocardial infarction or stroke, may lead to serious health problems and even death. Therefore, many patients who would strongly benefit from treatment with selective cox-2 inhibitors are not treated as it is unknown whether treatment may result in a cardiovascular complication.
Cardiovascular problems or risks can remain asymptomatic for long periods of time. Therefore, reliable diagnosis of the presence of a cardiovascular risk is more difficult and error-prone than generally believed. In particular, general practitioners and non-cardiologists often are not able to identify a previously unrecognized cardiovascular problem.
According to the state of the art, it is only possible to exclude patients with cardiovascular symptoms or a known history of heart disease or hypertension from treatment with selective cox-2 inhibitors.
This risk management is insufficient, as also asymptomatic patients may develop a cardiovascular complication due to an unrecognized predisposition, e.g. the presence of an arterial plaque. As mentioned earlier, only patients without any recognisable cardiovascular risk were included in the APPROVE study, yet treatment led to cardiovascular complications in several patients.
In the prior art, no hint is given how the risk of a cardiovascular complication associated with treatment with an anti-inflammatory drug, in particular a selective cox-2 inhibitor can be diagnosed. Particularly, no reference has been made how such diagnosis can be made in patients that have no known history of cardiovascular complications.
This does not only apply with respect to selective cox-2 inhibitors, but also with respect to other classes of anti-inflammatory drugs, e.g. being inhibitors of cox-2 and other target (e.g. Cox-1), and which may cause cardiovascular complications. Examples for these other classes of anti-inflammatory drugs include non-selective cox-2 inhibitors (compounds inhibiting Cox-1 and cox-2). Even though the risk of leading to cardiovascular complications is not as high as for selective cox-2 inhibitors, there may be cases where a possible cardiovascular complication has to be taken into account.
For example, cardiovascular side-effects are also suspected for other anti-inflammatory drugs, in particular other NSAIDs or steroids.
Therefore, there is a need to for a method or means to identify risk patients before they receive treatment with anti-inflammatory drugs, particularly NSAIDs or steroids, more particularly selective cox-2 inhibitors. Particularly, there is a need to provide a suitable diagnostic means. Particularly, there is a need for a diagnostic means that allows to identify risk patients that have no history or no known history of a cardiovascular risk or complication. In particular, the diagnostic means should be reliable and suited for use by general practitioners and non-cardiologists.